David Cameron is told by Conservative Party members in a new poll to sort out
the economy, stand up to Europe and take a hard line on immigration if he
wants to win an outright majority in 2015.

The survey for Lord Ashcroft, the former Tory deputy chairman, suggests the Prime Minister still has some way to go before he can think seriously about governing without his Liberal Democrat coalition partners, after the next general election.

The poll, published today to mark the first anniversary of the coalition, quizzed three different categories of people – those who voted Conservative in last year's election, those who considered doing so, but did not, and Tory party members.

Mr Cameron, who has faced some criticism from within his party for failing to win last year's election outright, is warned that the Conservatives are still seen by many as the party of "the rich" and that some voters believe that government spending cuts are going too far, too fast.

On immigration, Tories and potential Tories were uncertain what had been achieved since the party came to power, and on the NHS voters were found to be "very sceptical of controversial proposed reforms.

Asked what single thing their party could do which would be most likely to attract new voters in 2015, the most popular option was improving the economy, cutting the deficit and helping create jobs, backed by 19 per cent.

This was followed by taking a tougher stance on Europe, which could even include leaving the European Union, which had the support of 17 per cent of members, followed by dealing better with immigration (13 per cent).

These three options were ahead of cutting taxes, the touchstone of the Tory Right, which had nine per cent support. Both tackling crime and reforming the NHS did relatively badly, with two per cent each.

Mr Cameron's personal performance is one of the government's strongest suits – he tops the ratings for both Conservative members and those considering voting for the party, when they are presented with a list of politicians.

Both groups rank William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, second and Boris Johnson, the London mayor, third. Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, does better (fourth out 10) among Tory "considerers" than he does among Tory members (sixth).

Among considerers, he beats George Osborne, the Chancellor, Theresa May, the Home Secretary, and Ken Clarke, the Justice Secretary, despite the political bruising the Liberal Democrat leader has taken since joining the coalition.

Dangers facing Mr Cameron are shown by a question indicating the likely actual votes by Conservative "considerers" in 2015 are split almost precisely three main ways – between the Tories (22 per cent), the Lib Dems (23 per cent) and Labour (21 per cent).

This group would also be much more likely to vote in 2015 for a "coalition candidate" (61 per cent) in the unlikely event one was fielded in their constituency, than a Tory candidate (39 per cent).

Asked what was likely to have stopped people voting for their party in 2010, the biggest reason cited by Tory members (13 per cent) was that the Conservatives were still viewed as the party of the rich.

Lord Ashcroft, whose drive for a Tory majority is called Project Blueprint writes in a commentary for The Sunday Telegraph today: "What matters to me is not the coalition between the parties, but how to create the coalition of voters who will elect a Conservative government with an overall majority.

"The things that will build and maintain the Conservative voting coalition ... are fundamentally mainstream concerns: the economy, David Cameron, welfare, crime, the NHS, and a demonstration that the Conservatives share voters' values.

"Attracting new voters need not alienate existing supporters. If we get it right on the big themes and have a clear purpose, we will keep existing voters and attract new ones; if we get it wrong, they will scatter to the four winds: Labour, Ukip – even the Lib Dems."